The English artist Randolph Caldecott is remembered mostly for his illustrations for children's books, especially scenes of the **English countryside**. He was also an accomplished painter and sculptor.
Randolph Caldecott was born in **Chester, England**, on March 22, 1846. As a child he enjoyed drawing and modeling animals. After leaving school at age 15 in 1861, he worked as a bank clerk, first at **Whitchurch, in Shropshire**, and then in **Manchester**. While in Manchester, he went to night school at the Manchester School of Art. During this time he began drawing for local newspapers, magazines and other publications.Hisfirst drawing published in1871 was a sketch of a disastrous fire at the Queens Railway Hotel in Chester and it appeared in the **Illustrated London News** together with his story of the blaze. Click here for his first published picture. Also in 1871 the magazine **London Society** started publishing his hunting sketches.
The next year Caldecott gave up his bank work and moved to **London**. For Christmas in 1878 Caldecott illustrated two picture books for children. One of the picture books was **The House That Jack Built** . Compare it with the photo of the house which Randolph used for his pictures in this book: click here. Another picture book was called **John Gilpin** (1878). They were so successful that he continued to make two Christmas books each year until he died. Among them were **Sing a Song for Sixpence** (1880), **The Milkmaid** (1882), and **A Frog He Would A-Wooing Go** (1883).
On March 18, 1880, Randolph Caldecott married Marian Brind in Kent. For some time he had been in poor health. By 1884, sales of Caldecott's Nursery Rhymes had reached 867,000 copies (of twelve books) and he was internationally famous.
During a tour in the United States of America in 1886, he became ill. He and Marian had sailed to New York and traveled down the East Coast. It was the month of February when they reached Florida and it was unusually cold. Randolph was taken ill and died at St. Augustine, Florida on February 12, 1886. He was not quite 40 years old. A headstone still marks his grave in the cemetery there.
The Caldecott Medal, awarded annually in the United States for the most distinguished picture book for children, was named after him.
Click the links below to view two of his picture books.
The English artist Randolph Caldecott is remembered mostly for his illustrations for children's books, especially scenes of the **English countryside**. He was also an accomplished painter and sculptor.
Randolph Caldecott was born in **Chester, England**, on March 22, 1846. As a child he enjoyed drawing and modeling animals. After leaving school at age 15 in 1861, he worked as a bank clerk, first at **Whitchurch, in Shropshire**, and then in **Manchester**. While in Manchester, he went to night school at the Manchester School of Art. During this time he began drawing for local newspapers, magazines and other publications. His first drawing published in1871 was a sketch of a disastrous fire at the Queens Railway Hotel in Chester and it appeared in the **Illustrated London News** together with his story of the blaze. Click here for his first published picture. Also in 1871 the magazine **London Society** started publishing his hunting sketches.
The next year Caldecott gave up his bank work and moved to **London**. For Christmas in 1878 Caldecott illustrated two picture books for children. One of the picture books was **The House That Jack Built** . Compare it with the photo of the house which Randolph used for his pictures in this book: click here. Another picture book was called **John Gilpin** (1878). They were so successful that he continued to make two Christmas books each year until he died. Among them were **Sing a Song for Sixpence** (1880), **The Milkmaid** (1882), and **A Frog He Would A-Wooing Go** (1883).
On March 18, 1880, Randolph Caldecott married Marian Brind in Kent. For some time he had been in poor health. By 1884, sales of Caldecott's Nursery Rhymes had reached 867,000 copies (of twelve books) and he was internationally famous.
During a tour in the United States of America in 1886, he became ill. He and Marian had sailed to New York and traveled down the East Coast. It was the month of February when they reached Florida and it was unusually cold. Randolph was taken ill and died at St. Augustine, Florida on February 12, 1886. He was not quite 40 years old. A headstone still marks his grave in the cemetery there.
The Caldecott Medal, awarded annually in the United States for the most distinguished picture book for children, was named after him.
Click the links below to view two of his picture books.
Picture Book #2
Picture Book #3Read more about Randolph Caldecott. Click here.
Sources:
Wikipedia.org
Factmonster.com
http://ala.org/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/caldecottmedal/caldecotthonors/caldecottmedal
"Caldecott, Randolph." Compton's by Britannica. 2006: n.pag. SIRS Discoverer. Web. 16 Jan 2012.